Black Church Coalition to demand better public safety, investments

The Black Church Coalition will host an event this Thursday to demand better public safety and revenue investments from Indianapolis’ policymakers.

The group is made up of faith leaders in the city. The organization has criticized police practices that have killed people in mental health crises, including Herman Whitfield III in 2022.

Josh Riddick, an organizer for the Black Church Coalition, said one of the organization's demands is to fully-fund the city’s gun violence reduction program.

“At the end of the day, a safe and healthy community is one that is invested into wealth,” Riddick said. “Right now the system is not set up to allow us to do that.”

Riddick says a piece of that investment to end poverty needs to be the wealthy elite paying their fair share.

This is the first public event since the organization announced its partnership with Live Free USA – a nonprofit geared toward ending gun violence and mass incarceration in communities.

Riddick not only hopes the organization's demands will be heard by policymakers but that the event will also get more people involved in the Black Church Coalition’s mission.

“We want to generate the type of local and political leadership from our folks that want to challenge power at the state level and change systems,” he said.

The event is April 4 at 6:30 p.m. at Light of the World Christian Church, 4646 North Michigan Road. It is open to the public.

The coalition announced the beginning of this campaign in September, 2023.